Murray’s return generates rumors

Sunday

May 26, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Nick Kotsopoulos Politics and the City

Now that Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray will soon be heading up the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, one has to wonder how big a shadow the popular former mayor and city councilor will cast at City Hall.

Some feel Mr. Murray’s taking such a high-profile job in his hometown could serve as a steppingstone on his way to returning to City Hall someday; not as a city councilor or mayor, but as the city’s chief executive — a position in Worcester better known as city manager.

It may seem a far-fetched notion now, and Mr. Murray would probably scoff at any such speculation and quickly dismiss it.

But this is Worcester, and you can’t rule anything out.

That’s not to say that City Manager Michael V. O’Brien needs to start looking over his shoulder or putting together his résumé in pursuit of new job opportunities, though the conspiracy theorists want you to believe otherwise.

They see this as a nefarious cabal drummed up by the local Democrat powers-that-be to nudge Mr. O’Brien out the door and get Mr. Murray into the city manager’s office.

Believe what you want, but that’s just downright far-fetched.

Mr. Murray and Mr. O’Brien have worked effectively as a team the past several years and together they have been able to get many things done in Worcester — things that never advanced beyond the talking stage for many years.

Not only that, but there is a great amount of respect between the two.

And, let’s not overlook the fact that Mr. O’Brien has done a pretty good job during his tenure as city manager, as evident by the consistently high grades and rave reviews he receives from his boss, the City Council, during his annual evaluations.

Given that, don’t look for the council to unceremoniously push Mr. O’Brien out the door simply because Mr. Murray is back on the local scene.

But the conspiracy theorists remind us that didn’t stop the City Council back in 2004 when it all but gave then-City Manager Thomas R. Hoover the boot, even though he was popular in the community and consistently received favorable job reviews from the council as well.

They point out that Mr. Murray played an instrumental role in the coup at City Hall that led to Mr. Hoover’s decision to resign and opened the door for Mr. O’Brien to succeed him.

Such is life in Worcester politics.

Having Mr. Murray back on the local scene, heading up an organization like the Chamber of Commerce, will give the council something down the road it hasn’t had for years when it comes to the city manager’s job: an option.

That’s something to keep in mind, as Mr. O’Brien’s employment contract runs through March 23, 2015.

By then Mr. O’Brien will have been city manager for more than 11 years, and who knows what his future plans are going to be then.

In the world of city managers, 11 years is a long time, especially when you consider that the average tenure of city managers nationwide is about five years. In fact, by the time his current contract runs out, Mr. O’Brien will have become Worcester’s second-longest tenured city manager in the 60-plus years it has had the council-manager form of government.

Meanwhile, Mr. O’Brien has shown no signs of letting up or losing interest in being city manager; he continues to perform his job at one speed: full throttle. And the council has shown no signs of wanting to look for a new direction or leadership at City Hall.

Interestingly, since Mr. Murray left City Hall in 2007 to become lieutenant governor, his name has often been mentioned when the conversation has been about the position of Worcester’s chief executive.

Those who like talking about changing Worcester’s charter, to one where an elected mayor would serve as the city’s chief executive, have said Mr. Murray would make an ideal “strong mayor.”

But there has been talk about bringing back the so-called strong-mayor form of government in Worcester for years and years, and nothing has happened. Given that, it’s unlikely that such a change in Worcester’s form of government will happen anytime soon.

That’s why it’s not surprising that some folks are now speculating on whether Mr. Murray may someday end up in the city manager’s job.

Even though he is leaving the Statehouse, it’s not as if Mr. Murray will be walking off into the sunset, not to be seen or heard from again — as has happened with many other former politicians.

As head of the local Chamber of Commerce, he will likely be front-and-center on many key issues facing Worcester, both in the municipal government and in the local business community.

“He has delivered for this city time and time again,” said Councilor-at-Large Frederick C. Rushton. “He has never stopped working for this city.”

It will be interesting to see what kind of influence Mr. Murray exerts at City Hall in his new position.

Having invested so much political capital in Worcester during his tenure as lieutenant governor — the CitySquare redevelopment project, the $100 million CSX freight yard expansion project, the transfer of the longtime debt-ridden Worcester Regional Airport to the Massachusetts Port Authority, the expansion of MBTA commuter rail service to Boston, and persuading JetBlue to begin passenger air service from Worcester, starting this November — you can bet he simply won’t sit idly or silently by.

In other words, expect Mr. Murray to remain very much a player in Worcester in his new job.

Meanwhile, only time will tell whether that will eventually lead him back to City Hall as the city’s chief executive.